Database Users

Why TouchWiz 4 is better then HTC Sense 3.0 (my opinion)

I was not sure if I wanted to post this, being afraid people would think I suck or hunt me down and kill me. But since I dont have friends that are as "passionate" about smartphone's, I will take a risk and do it here lol
Why TouchWiz 4 is better then Sense 3.0
I have been thinking about this for a while. HTC Sense used to be great, I liked it a lot. The biggest reason everybody loved it was Stock Android being ugly and not complete. HTC Sense added usefull stuff to the OS.
Now that we are at version 2.3 of the OS, Gingerbread, Android has changed. It is as good as complete in terms of functionality, looks good (some people might not like the simple look, without eyecandy). It is better then before, thats for sure.
Skins are still appreciated by many people though. But I think the TouchWiz 4 UI is better at this point then HTC Sense 3.0. Why?
I think HTC Sense has become to much. When I look at the HTC Sensation I see a "heavy" skin, using RAM (I think?) much more then needed. From what I have seen scrolling between the homescreens is "choppy"/laggy, especially compared to TouchWiz 4 on the Galaxy S II. You can't change the dock shortcuts (always app drawer, phone and settings for skins, wallpapers and ringtones). All the animations are to much, slowing the device down and maybe consuming extra battery. And what good are the animations if you have that washed out screen? But that's about the Sensation, so I'm gonna get back to topic.
TouchWiz 4 adds exactly what is needed. If I look at the homescreen I see 4 shortcuts in the Dock, 1 more then stock Android. I see the possibility to have 7 homescreens, but also only 3 or 1. I see some (usefull) eyecandy with the "3D page view" slider. I see some usefull widgets that give you information on your homescreen. And a good appdrawer that is easy to organise.
So maybe I am crazy, but I think TouchWiz 4 is exactly the "light" and fast overlay Stock Android 2.3 needs. It provides some functionality (set how many homescreens you want, easy to rearrange, better organised Appdrawer) and some animations and eyecandy. But not to much. It leaves a lot of RAM alone to help us with multitasking. It stays close to the Stock Gingerbread experience but carefully adds only what is actually needed.
So, what I am curious about. Do you guys agree? I myself am really not missing HTC Sense at all and am happy with Samsung's work, imo making the stock android experience better, but not changing to much. Maybe stock android should even take some notes from this.
Well, thats it. Please dont kill me.

Sense 3.0 is a real looker and you can customize it up the wazoo, with wigets and skins and themes , but it really eats into the phones free ram memory.
See below for how much memory is left on the HTC Sensation compared to the SGS2
I was just playing though the videos to the point where them show the taskmanger on both phones and they killed all applications on both and we see how much memory was left.
HTC = total ram memory 768mb , Available 558mb , free after clear memory 185mb
GS2 = total ram memory 1024mb, Available 837mb ,free after clear memory 558mb
The Samsung GS2 has over 3 x as much free ram memory as the HTC Sensation.
That`s a lot more free ram memory for games and app designers to play with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

your wrong and that my opinion
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Tinderbox (UK) said:
Sense 3.0 is a real looker and you can customize it up the wazoo, with wigets and skins and themes , but it really eats into the phones free ram memory.
See below for how much memory is left on the HTC Sensation compared to the SGS2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thats all the RAM available on the Sensation? Thats really a huge difference with the Galaxy S II! This is exactly what I mean, Id rather take the TouchWiz UI with 3x more RAM available. It adds enough to make the experience fantastic.
All that free RAM > Sense overload of eyecandy and animations.

The video with the memory example is below , goto 14m15s if you want to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mc4_LsNxoZY
XDA mark said:
Wow, thats all the RAM available on the Sensation? Thats really a huge difference with the Galaxy S II! This is exactly what I mean, Id rather take the TouchWiz UI with 3x more RAM available. It adds enough to make the experience fantastic.
All that free RAM > Sense overload of eyecandy and animations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

It's just pure nonsense what the OP is saying, when you talk about sense you really just mean rosie sens' launcher it's not heavier or lighter than other launcher but the sense experience is much more many apps and widgets, some very good ones, which you can choose to use or not when you don't have use them they don't consume resources but it's great that they are there to and you can use them because sense includes perhaps the best touchscreen, keyboard, email, sms and many great widgets and more.
When I got the sgs2. The first thing I did was go tovthe market to get equivalents of sense widgets and app, and have pay for them and they are not even as good as the stuff sense gives you for free.

Tinderbox (UK) said:
The video with the memory example is below , goto 14m15s if you want to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mc4_LsNxoZY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can not compare these values this is not how Linux memory management works, I already told you this in another thread, and Linux aggressively caches a lot of this this memory will not show up as free but is available. Use the free command to compare.

godutch said:
It's just pure nonsense what the OP is saying, when you talk about sense you really just mean rosie sens' launcher it's not heavier or lighter than other launcher but the sense experience is much more many apps and widgets, some very good ones, which you can choose to use or not when you don't have use them they don't consume resources but it's great that they are there to and you can use them because sense includes perhaps the best touchscreen, keyboard, email, sms and many great widgets and more.
When I got the sgs2. The first thing I did was go tovthe market to get equivalents of sense widgets and app, and have pay for them and they are not even as good as the stuff sense gives you for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im just looking from a "average" users perspective. When scrolling through your homescreens on the galaxy S II is much smoother then the HTC Sensation, people will notice. I mean you use your homescreen all the time. Overall the free RAM on the Galaxy S II gives you a smooth and fast experience. Better then on the Sensation/Sense 3.0.
So basicly, I am saying Sense 3.0 is not worth all that RAM. TouchWiz gives you a lot too and doesnt sacrifice that much RAM. Thats why my preference goes to the Galaxy S II with TouchWiz 4.
edit: I forgot to mention how bad Engadget hates on Sense these days lol. When I saw their Sensation review I vouldnt believe my eyes. But its got to mean something.. They aren't some random idiots on the Internet.,HTC Sense should have a total remake. Start fresh, like Samsung did with TouchWiz 4.

Sense does have some good widgets and modifacations but I find it overbearing as a launcher. I think that the slider to go between screens is a great addition. You can go back and forth to any screen without swiping and no need to pinch to pull down the overview which requires two hands which means I never use it anyways being as I prefer to use my phone one handed. I am expecting the usual suspects such as LP, GO, ADW, to borrow that for their launchers. I have been using TW as my launcher for a while now but I have de bloated it and use strictly the launcher aspect.

XDA mark said:
Im just looking from a "average" users perspective. When scrolling through your homescreens on the galaxy S II is much smoother then the HTC Sensation, people will notice. I mean you use your homescreen all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scrolling through homescreens is not dependent on memory but on the CPU(or GPU but android doesnt use the GPU) but I do know it's buttery smooth on my desire and on the sensation I tested in Mediamarket
So basicly, I am saying Sense 3.0 is not worth all that RAM. TouchWiz gives you a lot too and doesnt sacrifice that much RAM. Thats why my preference goes to the Galaxy S II with TouchWiz 4.
Overall the free RAM on the Galaxy S II gives you a smooth and fast experience. Better then on the Sensation/Sense 3.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has nothing to do with sense vs touchwiz but with the fact the sgs2 has 256MB of extra ram and the sgs2 is a much more powerful device in general

godutch said:
It's just pure nonsense what the OP is saying, when you talk about sense you really just mean rosie sens' launcher it's not heavier or lighter than other launcher...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're wrong. Go read the Sensation forum. It's a resource hog, the Sensation's light on memory, and people are saying it doesn't feel like a dual-core phone. Its actually running out of memory causing it to periodically reboot itself (Sense, not the phone). To get better performance people are turning off the animations which was kind of what made 3.0 special.
People who are new to Android or don't want to deal with having to add a bunch of crap from the market to make their phone work love Sense. Everyone else, not as much. I also agree with the OP that the problems it was designed to solve don't exist any longer. To each their own...

godutch said:
Scrolling through homescreens is not dependent on memory but on the CPU(or GPU but android doesnt use the GPU) but I do know it's buttery smooth on my desire and on the sensation I tested in Mediamarket
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm thats weird. I have seen multiple video reviews showing the Sensation being pretty choppy while scrolling. The reviewers mention that often. Now I dont know who to believe.
Yeah I just wanted to say its probably not the memory but CPU/GPU. Anyway, with the Sensations powerfull chipset I can't believe HTC Sense still hasn't got perfect smooth scrolling. Also when you look at flash performance in the browser its a notable difference.
I guess its just a personal preference. I was curious to see if people enjoy the TouchWiz UI as much as I do.

XDA mark said:
Hmmm thats weird. I have seen multiple video reviews showing the Sensation being pretty choppy while scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a comparison review from the U.S. It's not the greatest review but the reviewer glowed over the Sensation when he evaluated by itself. He echos what's being said on the Sensation forum about Sense and performance.
Part One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4_LsNxoZY
Part Two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLZ7vcNVhFg

XDA mark said:
Hmmm thats weird. I have seen multiple video reviews showing the Sensation being pretty choppy while scrolling. The reviewers mention that often. Now I dont know who to believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scrolling through the app drawer is could appear choppy but this is by design, it was a feature introduced in sense 2.1, actually what it does it flips though the app drawer by page, accelerates, decelerates and than stops with a slight overshoot effect, this way you can flip through your apps and not have to scroll to much because in other launchers you accelerate to scroll but often overshoot a lot and than go back again etc until you've finally found your app

I honestly don't get this. really, really I don't. We have 2 mediocre launchers with dozen of better ones available on the market, with houndred of widgets available for free and still there are topics like this.
I saw touchwiz, I tried it, I replaced it with Go launcher EX
why ?
-lower mem consumption
-I can arrange the icons how I want
-I can make folders inside the app drawer and organize there
-If I want I can have transition effects
-gestures
-customizable dock
-missed calls/sms/mail Notifications on the dock
-I can rename shortcuts
-Smoother operation
-I can chose how the apps are sorted in the drawer
So please, someone remind me what all this is about ? Why does the touchwiz vs htc sense keep popping up ?

BarryH_GEG said:
You're wrong. Go read the Sensation forum. It's a resource hog, the Sensation's light on memory, and people are saying it doesn't feel like a dual-core phone. Its actually running out of memory causing it to periodically reboot itself (Sense, not the phone). To get better performance people are turning off the animations which was kind of what made 3.0 special.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So and you are saying touchwiz 4 on the sensation wouldnt run out of memory because the sgs2 still has 25% more memory than the sensation and what else are these people running? And again animations don't cost ram, they cost cpu and battery

aurelm said:
So please, someone remind me what all this is about ? Why does the touchwiz vs htc sense keep popping up ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because not everyone thinks like you. I used ADW on all my previous phones but I happen to like TouchWiz and am using it now. That doesn't make me right or you wrong. Hell, there are people on this forum begging devs to build a Sense 3.0 ROM for the SGS2. Different people want and expect different things. Hence the discussion.

aurelm said:
So please, someone remind me what all this is about ? Why does the touchwiz vs htc sense keep popping up ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sense it really a lot more than a launcher, GO is actually very good though(all their stuff is, except for weather), I would actually run it on an HTC device

BarryH_GEG said:
Because not everyone thinks like you. I used ADW on all my previous phones but I happen to like TouchWiz and am using it now. That doesn't make me right or you wrong. Hell, there are people on this forum begging devs to build a Sense 3.0 ROM for the SGS2. Different people want and expect different things. Hence the discussion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think I would have bought the sgs2 if the nexus/galaxy sense ports didnt exist

aurelm said:
I honestly don't get this. really, really I don't. We have 2 mediocre launchers with dozen of better ones available on the market, with houndred of widgets available for free and still there are topics like this.
I saw touchwiz, I tried it, I replaced it with Go launcher EX
why ?
-lower mem consumption
-I can arrange the icons how I want
-I can make folders inside the app drawer and organize there
-If I want I can have transition effects
-gestures
-customizable dock
-missed calls/sms/mail Notifications on the dock
-I can rename shortcuts
-Smoother operation
-I can chose how the apps are sorted in the drawer
So please, someone remind me what all this is about ? Why does the touchwiz vs htc sense keep popping up ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because its fun? Because thats what forums are for?
1. Most people dont download 3rd party launchers
2. These 2 launchers are the pride of HTC and Samsung, its a guaranty people are going to compare them.
3. I dont have my own personal blog and this is a way for me to share my thought and discuss. But I wont do it again if people hate it!
Also I see sooo many comments from people that have never used TouchWiz 4 and instantly say "omg touchwiz, im not buying Galaxy S 2" (on other forums like engadget, not here)
What I really think is TouchWiz 4 is not bad at all. Its even better then stock android and its not so much "in your face" as HTC Sense.

Venting: Why is the homescreen so laggy?

This seems to be such a common problem for android phones and tablets. Even with deodexed, slimmed, optimized roms and overclocked kernels, it just boggles my mind that the homescreen is the slowest part of the android experience. Other apps scroll smoothly and are responsive, but the homescreen is jerky and slow.
Try this: Long click an icon and drag it around the screen. The thing can't follow even a moderately fast-moving finger. And that's just a simple icon moving on a 2d plane. But then, I can run a playstation emulator in 3d without problems.
The same thing has been true on my G1, SGS, Droid Charge, GTab 10.1, and Moto Droid 1.
Am I missing something?

i dunno mayne its the snap to grid that causes it because flipping back and forth from pane to pane is smooth.

Coming from the transformer, this was the first thing i actually noticed. One thing that would help is to change the default wallpaper to one of your own. It actually improves it significantly
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

I have a Xoom on 3.2 and the home screen is really smooth. I have looked at many Touchwiz videos on Youtube and it seems very laggy compared to my Xoom. But i guess i will soon see it in person, just ordered a GT10.1 3G.

Only reason that your tab or phone are laggy on homescreen is due to either wallpaper or widget,
To fix it get wallpaper wizardrii and set to no scroll.
In regards to the icons well notice that you have additional few more effects when you tap and hold icons, there is stransparency, grid etc. If you want to move icons from app dock to homescreen it shows both at the same time, and homescreen is active not paused.
Ios will never be able to do this there is just to much
At the moment my tab is acting really weird.
My wallpaper is scrolling although it should not, screen is absolutely jitter free all that happened since I've activated kies via wifi and deselected usb debugging (needed it to install drivers)
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

Can't say mine is laggy at all but I'm not using the stock launcher. The latest "UEKMB" slim Launcher2 with enabled hw acceleration and Multipicture LWP looks and feels extremely smooth. I have no comparison to another Honeycomb Tablet but I can't really see it getting noticeable "smoother".

cryptyk said:
This seems to be such a common problem for android phones and tablets. Even with deodexed, slimmed, optimized roms and overclocked kernels, it just boggles my mind that the homescreen is the slowest part of the android experience. Other apps scroll smoothly and are responsive, but the homescreen is jerky and slow.
Try this: Long click an icon and drag it around the screen. The thing can't follow even a moderately fast-moving finger. And that's just a simple icon moving on a 2d plane. But then, I can run a playstation emulator in 3d without problems.
The same thing has been true on my G1, SGS, Droid Charge, GTab 10.1, and Moto Droid 1.
Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem.... Before the Touchwiz update my homescreen was very laggy, after the update it became less lagy but you can still feel it when scrolling which, I gotta tell you is the most annoying thing... IS there any way to make my homescreen smoother? I've tried wallpaper wizardrii which helped but after awhile the wallpaper cuts in half... I have no more than 5 widgets on my Tab and i'm still amazed on how bad the screen lag is.... I

I'm using ADW Launcher EX, and the screen is super smooth/responsive. The latest version has a high-density option, so we still get the big icons. It's $2 or $3 but it's worth it, and the other thing is to disable the scrolling desktop.
Give it a try. I'm not sure why the stock launcher is so choppy, but they could learn something from the folks who made ADW.
-----
Side note: My current ROM/Kernal is completely stock. No root, no OC, and ADW is still silky smooth. BUT... it was even smoother when I was running my Tab at 1400 with AutoKiller.

Adw launcher is great. I use it on my Xoom & it makes it fly.Try it on the 10.1 & give us some feedback.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I see the lag on my Tab that is described by the OP.
However, I do NOT see it on my HTC Thunderbolt phone running Go Launcher EX.

Arun01 said:
Adw launcher is great. I use it on my Xoom & it makes it fly.Try it on the 10.1 & give us some feedback.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just finished installing ADW launcher ex and its A LOT smoother than stock, the transition from landscape to portrait view is still a bit droggy but that's probably because of the widgets. I'm loving the new look ADW gave my tablet.

I too was very frustrated with the homescreen lag on my 10.1. I installed ADW Launcher EX and it has been super smooth and givees you some neat options for homescreen transition effects too. Give it a try.

do a search.
Its because Google has little to no interest in fixing the UI/gpu/hw acceleration issues.
Your phone tablet apps launcher etc have nothing to do with it. Its a fundamental issue with Android that has been ignored and no intention of real fix.

xManMythLegend said:
do a search.
Your phone tablet apps launcher etc have nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on the number of people that just said the stock launcher is laggy, and the aftermarket ones are not, I would say the launcher has quite a lot to do with it.

cryptyk said:
Based on the number of people that just said the stock launcher is laggy, and the aftermarket ones are not, I would say the launcher has quite a lot to do with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who made the stock launcher?... Google...
It is well known that Google cuts corners in relation to standardization and hardware acceleration. Instead the focus on incrementally updating release numbers instead.
sent via Tapatalk

cryptyk said:
Based on the number of people that just said the stock launcher is laggy, and the aftermarket ones are not, I would say the launcher has quite a lot to do with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lag and framerate drops happen across the ui not just the launcher. It is an Android problem not anything device specific.

I have a standard (scrolling, but not live) wallpaper, 5 widgets and maybe 30 shortcut icons on my desktop/homescreen. Scrolling from one to another is silky smooth (3.1 TW). On one occasion it was quite laggy, it seemed like it had gone from hw accel'd to software for no obvious reason.... Quick reboot fixed it, though.
While it's probably true some performace issues lie with google, I'd wager most problems lie with users and developers doing things badly (or trying to do too much).

I deleted the social hub widget and my homescreen does not lag at all anymore.

tghockey07 said:
I deleted the social hub widget and my homescreen does not lag at all anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS. Widgets. Remove them.
>>>
>>>
Admit you have no real friends.
Remove the social widget.
????
PROFIT!

Mine varies from ROM to ROM. I actually get the smoothest experience on stock 3.1 no TW.

Taskbar rant!!!

I am really miffed at this.
I think it is a big google mistake that we spend the money on these 10.1 inch devices only to have 5+% of the screen constantly used up a by a big black bar at the bottom!
In reality our 10.1 inch screens end up being smaller than that of a 9.7 inch ipad!
Surely all that was really needed was a small semi-transparent home, back, and settings buttons? Maybe even configurable. Can't be that hard, look at button savior or virtual button bar...
I have been experimenting with honey bar and the open source hide bar, but both these options when used in conjunction with the programmes mentioned above end up making the desktop stutter in transition...
Does anyone have a solution that might work, or are there any devs that can put something together?
Maybe leave the buttons in place, but have the bar itself transparent?
Phh... makes me mad, really.
What do you think? Post your thoughts.
MJ-12

Doesn't bother me one bit
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

Same here.
As a matter of fact.....
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My A500 Rocks!
Thor Transformer Revolver 3.5 Port v4.1

never bothered me but now that you mention it a transparent bar would be quite cool. Actually now I want one. Any other tabs have one?

irishmoe said:
never bothered me but now that you mention it a transparent bar would be quite cool. Actually now I want one. Any other tabs have one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxy tab have code for one, it gives show/hide option when pressing the power button.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1265397
-

MJ-12 said:
I am really miffed at this.
I think it is a big google mistake that we spend the money on these 10.1 inch devices only to have 5+% of the screen constantly used up a by a big black bar at the bottom! ....
MJ-12
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not that upset about it. I have noticed it. But it's not there when it would actually matter to me (while watching video, playing games, etc.). As far as being a part of the interface or ui element, it's not really taking that much screen real estate from the apps that use it.
The simplest solution would be to replicate the 2.3 taskbar. A simple, thin taskbar with the time, battery, notifs on it and some smart points where we know to touch to get the desired action. It's likely it was made that size to be uniform with the size of the screen. Deeper into that, an easy way to hide it and make it transparent or translucent. Similar perhaps notif./active app list on phones...a simple pull-down or pull-up gesture could be implemented to pull it into and out of sight. Additionally, a gesture based solution could be implemented for apps that do require the bar to be there for use of backing out, going to home screen or viewing recent or running apps.
Remember that Samsung is running their own layer on top of HC so they can do whatever they want. That is also going to make it slightly more difficult for them to get updates to the tablet on a timely basis in most scenarios unless they are very on top of it. I doubt that with the multitude they'll have coming....7, 8.9 and 10 inch tabs all needing to be updated that they will indeed be very on top of it. And they don't have the best track record for updates post-hotness of their devices.
Acer could get the same customized elements if they did a light layer as well, but we'd no longer have vanilla HC and I don't think we'd like the trade off, which would be waiting a while longer for updates.
I say we wait and see what ICS has for us. It's at least somewhat likely Google has considered this.
Alternatively, maybe there's a HC designed launcher you could use to replace the current one?

Never noticed, I like it just like it is, transparent would be nice though.

Neoprimal said:
I'm not that upset about it. I have noticed it. But it's not there when it would actually matter to me (while watching video, playing games, etc.). As far as being a part of the interface or ui element, it's not really taking that much screen real estate from the apps that use it.
The simplest solution would be to replicate the 2.3 taskbar. A simple, thin taskbar with the time, battery, notifs on it and some smart points where we know to touch to get the desired action. It's likely it was made that size to be uniform with the size of the screen. Deeper into that, an easy way to hide it and make it transparent or translucent. Similar perhaps notif./active app list on phones...a simple pull-down or pull-up gesture could be implemented to pull it into and out of sight. Additionally, a gesture based solution could be implemented for apps that do require the bar to be there for use of backing out, going to home screen or viewing recent or running apps.
Remember that Samsung is running their own layer on top of HC so they can do whatever they want. That is also going to make it slightly more difficult for them to get updates to the tablet on a timely basis in most scenarios unless they are very on top of it. I doubt that with the multitude they'll have coming....7, 8.9 and 10 inch tabs all needing to be updated that they will indeed be very on top of it. And they don't have the best track record for updates post-hotness of their devices.
Acer could get the same customized elements if they did a light layer as well, but we'd no longer have vanilla HC and I don't think we'd like the trade off, which would be waiting a while longer for updates.
I say we wait and see what ICS has for us. It's at least somewhat likely Google has considered this.
Alternatively, maybe there's a HC designed launcher you could use to replace the current one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thought out reply, with some good ideas.
I think the best thing is to wait and see what ICS has to offer.
Cheers

I've always wanted to make the taskbar transparent. It doesn't bother me that its there and I use honeybar when I want to hide it, but having it transparent would make life so much easier.
When you use honeybar you're just adding another step to access the back, home and info buttons. I would also love to hide the upper icons as I never ever use them.

I know that there's an app that will hide the taskbar, because I saw it in one of the latest cooked ROMs in the DEV section. Have a look over there for the name of the app. He's actually included it in the ROM, but you can d/l the app once you know it's name.

you know I really thought I would hate it before I got this tab, but frankly I love it, it
s far more interactive and has great potential, with it being software based, it has moddability that buttons and capacitive spots don't have. and since the screens are already quite big, there's no lost functionality like on a phone.
case in point: download Wizz bar and see how much it add to the multitasking capability of HC. and remember that this is just getting started.

Honeybar
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

I love posting a solution to someone's issue and the thread instantly dies. Hope you found the Honeybar program. It works great but requires root.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

msimindlessmsi2 said:
I love posting a solution to someone's issue and the thread instantly dies. Hope you found the Honeybar program. It works great but requires root.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't particularly think of that as a solution, per se. It is great info though if folks don't know about it. The thread probably cooled off because many people don't really care about the bar or are using ROMs that have the ability to hide it anyway.
Honeybar may hide it like what Samsung and some Devs have done with their ROMS, that's great on some level but there's still that underlying issue of the bar being 1. there in the first place and 2. pretty, erm, obtrusive in some apps for some people. Furthermore, honeybar requires root and not everyone wants to root their tablet.
I say hurry up ICS!

Neoprimal said:
I don't particularly think of that as a solution, per se. It is great info though if folks don't know about it. The thread probably cooled off because many people don't really care about the bar or are using ROMs that have the ability to hide it anyway.
Honeybar may hide it like what Samsung and some Devs have done with their ROMS, that's great on some level but there's still that underlying issue of the bar being 1. there in the first place and 2. pretty, erm, obtrusive in some apps for some people. Furthermore, honeybar requires root and not everyone wants to root their tablet.
I say hurry up ICS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eggsackery,
This is what I mean.
+1 for ics
MJ-12

Total screen area is 45.5 square inches... Status bar is just under 3... In terms of screen area, it is about 6%,
To be technical, subtracting out the status bar leaves 9.9 inches diagonally, which is how screens are measured... Actual diagonal size is really 10.07 inches... You lose 0.17 diagonal inches... 1.688% diagonal screen loss.
Edit: I could make it worse... Screen size is measured by the diagonal. If you take the diagonal of the status bar, it is about 8.6 inches... Which is 85% of 10.1... lol.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Civato's mix rom has an app called hide bar that hides the taskbar and you can just swipe it back. It works pretty good.
Sent from my A500 using xda premium

monkey10120 said:
Civato's mix rom has an app called hide bar that hides the taskbar and you can just swipe it back. It works pretty good.
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This info is included in the OP.
But its not exactly the point being made here. See a couple of posts back #14 by Neoprimal...

5 reasons I like original Android ROM over Touchwiz Rom

1. More free RAM and faster optimization (no lag at all).
Real project butter without Touchwiz decrease. Much more free RAM available.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKWWgJj3WSE
2. Settings, options and great interface.
Stock android roms have more options than Touchwiz. AOSP roms have a very huge number of options. Touchwiz interface is a failed clone of old gingerbread android interface.
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
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"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
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"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
3. No stupid over 50 system undeletables apps.
Touchwiz roms are full of unnecessary and useless apps (above 200MB-300MB). Many samsung services draining your battery very much. You cant delete Dropbox services it is integrated to your device with Touchwiz rom.
4. Great Lockscreen.
Touchwiz ripped great original customizable Android lockscreen.
5. Better notification panel.
Stock Android notification panel has more options, works smoother and faster.
But most importantly - you will get Android updates much faster, than TouchWiz roms.
And by the way S Pen in CM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3WGO-OZQ2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBSyvl6YE0Y

The only downside of TouchWiz is appearance. Period.
I am a Nova Launcher user just because of that.

Simone said:
The only downside of TouchWiz is appearance. Period.
I am a Nova Launcher user just because of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using it too
Best launcher for Android.

anonymous572 said:
I'm using it too
Best launcher for Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly but arguably.

If someone says AOSP has worse battery life, I don't agree... Sentinel rom battery stats.

lhex said:
If someone says AOSP has worse battery life, I don't agree... Sentinel rom battery stats.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I am not mistaken, you are a Mugen battery user. Correct?

Simone said:
If I am not mistaken, you are a Mugen battery user. Correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No!!! Stock battery, stock kernel... 2G, WIFI and no more.

Multi-Window keeps me on TW based ROMS. Can't be without it anymore.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Do aosp roms fully support spen now? like screen shots and screen crop/ share directly? If yes I'm downloading tonight
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

lhex said:
No!!! Stock battery, stock kernel... 2G, WIFI and no more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Good for you.

anonymous572 said:
1. More free RAM and faster optimization (no lag at all).
Real project butter without Touchwiz decrease. Much more free RAM available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Much more?? I'm using 422mb with 1.3G free RAM, How much more can you have? Or how much more do you need?
(On a phone with 2G of RAM even if the ROM is using 900mb it's not an issue)
2. Settings, options and great interface.
Stock android roms have more options than Touchwiz. AOSP roms have a very huge number of options. Touchwiz interface is a failed clone of old gingerbread android interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AOSP don't have more options but different options. AOSP don't have all the motions, security, S-pen, voice controlled apps etc...
3. No stupid over 50 system undeletables apps.
Touchwiz roms are full of unnecessary and useless apps (above 200MB-300MB). Many samsung services draining your battery very much. You cant delete Dropbox services it is integrated to your device with Touchwiz rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can agree with this one but why would you want to delete dropbox? My wife lost her S3 and thanks to Dropbox all her pictures where saved(just set it to run on wifi only)
4. Great Lockscreen.
Touchwiz ripped great original customizable Android lockscreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think I will choose my ROM based on the lock screen
5. Better notification panel.
Stock Android notification panel has more options, works smoother and faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man I hate this panel that takes all the screen and you have to tap the small button in the corner. The line up toggle style of TW is much more efficient.
But most importantly - you will get Android updates much faster, than TouchWiz roms.
And by the way S Pen in CM:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM? I thought you where talking about Original Android ROM
Five reasons why I love TouchWiz over stock Android

I know a lot of people prefer pure android, I guess I would too if I had a Nexus device. But I love so many features thanks to Touchwiz like the Spen functionality, and the page buddy for when I plug in my headphones. I also appreciate some of their widgets. I use Nova Launcher most of the time now though and I have to say... I still love it ^.^

I'd love stock Android as well. Stock is much nicer to look at.
But, good luck with:
S-Pen Support
100% Reliable RILD Communications
HDMI Support
All Share Cast Support
Reliable Bluetooth Support
Reliable Audio Support (People can't hear you, you're too quiet etc)
I mean no disrespect at all to the developers. The only reason those things don't work are because they're closed source and Samsung are less than helpful with getting them working properly.
I use the HDMI. I use all All Share Cast dongle. I have a bluetooth headset I use all the time and for business I can't be stuffing about with "Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?"
And really, RAM? That's a reason? The phone has 2GB, even with all the "bloatware" as people like to call it, it's got plenty of memory free.
The days of even needing root are nearly gone. I haven't rooted my phone, not because I don't know how, but because I really can't see the point. There's no compelling app that needs it anymore for me.
But yes, I agree with points 2-5. I wish the Note 2 had support for the above list items but without all the additional crap. That'd be perfect.

Go buy a nexus.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

There's a bunch of apps I use on aosp called GMD Spen, rotate and gesture control that mimics the touchwiz features. Other than that I find the only thing missing that's worth mentioning is multiwindow feature.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

I'll give you my own custom cooked up rom with all the extra samsung useless bloat removed without touching any major core features. Then we'll talk about better battery life and less ram usage.

As soon as Halo PA Comes out....Goodbye Touch wiz, Right now the Multi window mode is my reason for not switching to an AOSP...Lets hope this best for HAlo

anonymous572 said:
1. More free RAM and faster optimization (no lag at all).
Real project butter without Touchwiz decrease. Much more free RAM available.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKWWgJj3WSE
2. Settings, options and great interface.
Stock android roms have more options than Touchwiz. AOSP roms have a very huge number of options. Touchwiz interface is a failed clone of old gingerbread android interface.
3. No stupid over 50 system undeletables apps.
Touchwiz roms are full of unnecessary and useless apps (above 200MB-300MB). Many samsung services draining your battery very much. You cant delete Dropbox services it is integrated to your device with Touchwiz rom.
4. Great Lockscreen.
Touchwiz ripped great original customizable Android lockscreen.
5. Better notification panel.
Stock Android notification panel has more options, works smoother and faster.
But most importantly - you will get Android updates much faster, than TouchWiz roms.
And by the way S Pen in CM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3WGO-OZQ2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBSyvl6YE0Y
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One reason I like, prefer and use TW ROMs over custom ones: FEATURES.
This is also the same reason (plus speed) why I use Nova Launcher Prime instead of the TW launcher (don't confuse the whole TW ROM with the TW launcher).

Kremata said:
Man I hate this panel that takes all the screen and you have to tap the small button in the corner. The line up toggle style of TW is much more efficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In most AOSP/CM based ROMs you can set it so swiping down the notification bar from one side of the screen brings notifications down by default, and the other side brings down this quick settings screen.
Also, a lot of the AOSP/CM based ROMs allow you to disable the quick settings screen and have normal power toggles in the notification drawer.
I'm more of a fan of quick settings, no need to scroll for options if you have more than 5 or so toggles like in stock touchwiz (which makes it less efficient), they all stay large enough to be easy to press (unlike if you use something like sf to put more toggles in without scrolling in touchwiz), and they're more customisable (a few AOSP/CM based ROMs have the option for custom toggles which you can set to do damn near anything)

i have a galaxy nexus and it's just boring. the holo look, no customization, no cool functions like touchwiz roms have.. a nexus running stock rom is just boring. a galaxy phone with stock rom is amazing. thats why i bought a note 2 and im completely satisfied with this one.
:good:
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Google Experience Launcher on LG G2 [is it possible? any issues?]

So the Google Home Launcher has been released as an apk. Can anyone give it a try?
This would require Google Play Services 4.0 to be installed, as well as Google Search and Google Home.
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/10/3...om-the-nexus-5-dump-search-launcher-and-more/
Can anyone install those 3 apk's and see if it works fine on the LG G2?
If this works, then this would sway me to get a LG G2 over a Nexus 5.

Been working great since yesterday. To bad its a let down. Icons are to big and the options are limited. I was really looking forward to it. I'm sure after a couple updates it will improve.
Is there a way to add more home screens? Change number of rows/columns? I didn't see it.

Mandelbrot.Benoit said:
Is there a way to add more home screens? I didn't see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no launcher options? It's possible maybe you can't change number of home screens since the settings options for the Launcher menu is baked into the Settings menu of KitKat. (i could be wrong)

aohus said:
So the Google Home Launcher has been released as an apk. Can anyone give it a try?
This would require Google Play Services 4.0 to be installed, as well as Google Search and Google Home.
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/10/3...om-the-nexus-5-dump-search-launcher-and-more/
Can anyone install those 3 apk's and see if it works fine on the LG G2?
If this works, then this would sway me to get a LG G2 over a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Big thread including all the new google apk's in the Apps and Themes section.
Just install it and give it a go, it is easy to do and doesn't have to be permanent. If you backup your current homescreen (in your homescreen settings), you defintiely wouldn't lose anything.
I did it, and then just went back to using LG launcher. Takes seconds to do.

aohus said:
There is no launcher options? It's possible maybe you can't change number of home screens since the settings options for the Launcher menu is baked into the Settings menu of KitKat. (i could be wrong)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No there are options. You hold on the bottom right of the dock and swipe in. The new widgets and app adding to home screens is there with a settings icon on right. That takes you to a screen with limited options.

aohus said:
There is no launcher options? It's possible maybe you can't change number of home screens since the settings options for the Launcher menu is baked into the Settings menu of KitKat. (i could be wrong)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How many home screens do you need? It has multiple by default. I know removing screens is easy as just deleting any apps or widgets that are on the screen.

I attached the options.

mgolder said:
How many home screens do you need? It has multiple by default. I know removing screens is easy as just deleting any apps or widgets that are on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one home screen.
OK I added a full widget. Then when I try and add another there is a new screen on the right. And looks like another appears when adding widgets or icons. My Bad!
Still a let down...

Mandelbrot.Benoit said:
I have one home screen.
OK I added a full widget. Then when I try and add another there is a new screen on the right. And looks like another appears when adding widgets or icons. My Bad!
Still a let down...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I found it a let down too. The only thing I can presume is that once 4.4 actually intertwines with it, it will open up a few more options and make it even smoother. I had a litter stuttering on pressing back.

mgolder said:
I agree. I found it a let down too. The only thing I can presume is that once 4.4 actually intertwines with it, it will open up a few more options and make it even smoother. I had a litter stuttering on pressing back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing 4.4 will bring is transparent status and nav bar. Yeah it may make it smoother but I need to at least shrink those icons a little. They look huge! Maybe with an icon pack, but there's no options for that?
And I like the new search bar but it better work while the device is locked like Moto X or no Bueno.

Mandelbrot.Benoit said:
The only thing 4.4 will bring is transparent status and nav bar. Yeah it may make it smoother but I need to at least shrink those icons a little. They look huge! Maybe with an icon pack, but there's no options for that?
And I like the new search bar but it better work while the device is locked like Moto X or no Bueno.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more I think about it, the less I like the launcher. I was very disappointed with the lack of options. Currently I can see no reason to use that launcher, as presumably once we get our 4.4 update, the clear nav & status bars will be permanent in stock g2 rom anyway, instead of just homescreen. That is what I want most anyway. The lg launcher is surprisingly good.

mgolder said:
The more I think about it, the less I like the launcher. I was very disappointed with the lack of options. Currently I can see no reason to use that launcher, as presumably once we get our 4.4 update, the clear nav & status bars will be permanent in stock g2 rom anyway, instead of just homescreen. That is what I want most anyway. The lg launcher is surprisingly good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Granted it is 100% better than what there was before from Google. For people who don't use launchers it will be great and if its available in the Play store even better. It will get updated I'm sure and can only get better. I'll stick with Apex but can't wait to see where the GEL goes :good:

I actually said, like a week ago, that one way to really bring the "updated" experience is to just release the Google Launcher just like they did with the keyboard and others. The more they "modulate" Android, the easier people would be able to update bits and pieces, or as a whole. The launcher is really 90% of the experience anyway.
And Google also needs to adapt the CM Tmobile Theme Engine too.
If people can grab the latest Launcher, Keyboard, and other apps, along with the ability to download the latest Theme... boom. I'd stay on 4.0 and probably wouldn't even flash custom roms. They should also throw the Google Lockscreen up on the play store while they are at it.

Nothing will trump Nova launcher for me.
Sent from my LG-D802

Nova is great but it doesn't support transparent status/nav bars on stock. I ran nova on my GNex and AOKP had transparent bars on Nova.
I would switch back to Nova on my G2 if they could toggle the transparencies. But LG stock launcher is pretty slick and has the bare options to make it usable.
Does the new Google Launcher do transparencies on the stock LG G2?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

player911 said:
Nova is great but it doesn't support transparent status/nav bars on stock. I ran nova on my GNex and AOKP had transparent bars on Nova.
I would switch back to Nova on my G2 if they could toggle the transparencies. But LG stock launcher is pretty slick and has the bare options to make it usable.
Does the new Google Launcher do transparencies on the stock LG G2?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Nova and now you can toggle transparencies with paid G2 Xposed app.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2477586
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"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

My LG G2 D805 is working well with google launcher. The double tap is working fine, but just on the top of the screen to turn off.

alex72 said:
I'm using Nova and now you can toggle transparencies with paid G2 Xposed app.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2477586
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm rooted but for some reason I just don't want to use Xposed stuff.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

aohus said:
So the Google Home Launcher has been released as an apk. Can anyone give it a try?
This would require Google Play Services 4.0 to be installed, as well as Google Search and Google Home.
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/10/3...om-the-nexus-5-dump-search-launcher-and-more/
Can anyone install those 3 apk's and see if it works fine on the LG G2?
If this works, then this would sway me to get a LG G2 over a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently running this. It's working nearly flawlessly. New hangouts too.
Sent from my LG-D801 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 11:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ----------
Does anybody know if we flash stock Android kitkat will we keep knock on/off? Even if only on the status bar
Sent from my LG-D801 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

RiverdALIEN said:
Currently running this. It's working nearly flawlessly. New hangouts too.
Sent from my LG-D801 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 11:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ----------
Does anybody know if we flash stock Android kitkat will we keep knock on/off? Even if only on the status bar
Sent from my LG-D801 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Knock on is in the kernel. They use the kernel so knock on Will work.
Knock off is different. Its handled with software. The LG Launcher does it currently and the status bar. I don't think either will work on AOSP.
What I do anyway is set my screen off time to 15s.
Some people use nova or alt launcher to setup double tap to launch a 3rd party app that turns the display off.
I actually dislike the Knockoff. I'm half tempted to flash a custom just to break it. I like my double tap to open my app drawer.
-sent from my LG G2 using XDA Premium 4